Magnetic door seal



Np'v.,17, 1953 L. ANDERSON ETAL v MAGNETIC DOOR SEAL Filed March 23, 1950 n n. ,3. www M. G. .HNMB .R BAR. O VoWo T ..N.-.K T AS. A ....MWW www NAN. LNA E s .o 4 G 9N 71TH.

Patented Nov. 17, 1953 MAGNETIC DOOR SEAL Lloyd L. Anderson and Nathan S. Waring, Grand Rapids, and Anton W. Korb, Grandville, Mich., assignor to Jervis Corporation, a corporation of Michigan Application March 23, 1950, Serial No. 151,462

This invention relates to a door seal and closure which has been designed, primarily for use in conjunction with refrigerators or the like, wherein it is desirable that an entrance door to interior space in the refrigerator be tightly closed Y and sealed against escape of refrigerated air from the interior of the casing or entrance of heat from outside.

With my invention, a novel, useful and practical structural device is provided for magnetically holding a refrigerator door or the like in closed position, and maintaining an effective seal entirely around the edge portions of the door, the door preferably carrying a novel structure of sealing gasket which in turn carries magnetically attractive means, While the refrigerator casing, around the entrance opening thereto, is supplied with spaced permanent magnets which, when the door approaches or comes to its closed position, magnetically attract the responsive material carried by the gasket so as to hold such gasket securely in sealing position against the casing at the faces thereof surrounding the door opening.

It is an object and purpose of the present invention to provide a novel, practical door sealing structure of the type indicated and in which, opening the door against the magnetic forces tending to hold it in closed position, is rendered more easy through a novel structure of gasket in association with the magnets which attract the gasket, in short a lesser amount of force is necessary to open the door than has been previously required. However, because of the novel combination herein illustrated, such result is obtained Without detrimental effect upon the sealing functions performed.

An understanding of the invention may be had fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation illustrating'a refrigerator equipped with my invention, a portion of the door being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section, substantially on the plane of line 2 2 of Fig. 1, with the door in closed sealing position.

Fig. 3 is a like View showing the door slightly pulled away from the casing for the magnetic seal release.

Fig. 4. is a fragmentary vertical section sub-V stantially on the line of 44 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section substantially on the line 5-,5 of Fig.'3.

Like reference characters refer to like partsl in the different figures of the drawing, and the sectional views are taken looking in the directions 1 Claim. (Cl. 20-69) indicated by the arrows associated with the repective section lines.

The refrigerator casing, indicated at l, is open at its front' side which is closed by a hinged door 2 in the usual manner. Around the entrance opening to the refrigerator, a number of permanent magnets 3 are mounted, spaced from each other as best shown in Fig. 1. Each of the magnets forms a part of a unit. The magnets have a generally horseshoe type, their ends or poles being inserted through a flat base plate 4 over which is a stirrup 5 of sheet metal, welded at its ends to the base. A screw 6 through the stirrup 5 bears against the magnet 3 (Fig. 4) to bind the magnet in place against movement.

The face of the refrigerator casing at the places where the magnets are installed has openings made through the metallic covering at such face. The intermediate portions of the bases 4, oiset as shown in Fig. 4, enter such openings so that the outer faces of the bases 4 are ush with the outer face of the refrigerator casing at all places where the magnets are installed around the entrance opening. The base plates 4 are Welded or otherwise permanently secured to the metal covering of the refrigerator casing.

At the inner side of the door, adjacent alli of its edges, a sealing gasket is secured. The gasket has abase member l, permanently secured atthe inner side of the door 2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The gasket, preferably of rubbervor plastic com- Y than the side 8 (Fig. 3). When the door is closed and the outer side 0r face lpresses againstthe front face of the refrigerator around the `en v trance opening soas to be parallel to the Vbase member l, thelonger side 9 is forced into an outward arc shape, as shown in Fig. 2. l It is evident that the gasket is hollow, the inner space being surrounded by the base 1, sides 8 and 9 and the inner face l0. Y

Within such space, integral with the inner face' l0 of the gasket, a continuous channel I I of rubber is located which, with the inner face IU of the gasket, provides av continuous, elongated `chamber of a generally rectangularform within which,V with our invention, magnetically attractable niai, terial is placed and retained as indicated at I2.

Such material may be in -a powdered formand` completely ll'the elongated chamber provided 'Y for it. It also may be used to thoroughly and homcgeneously impregnate strips of rubber material or other carrier for the powdered material. Such powdered or finely divided material, which may be soft particles or particles of iron oxide, -oi' other equivalent material which is attracted by magnetic attraction, may be used to impregnato a mass of the carrier material and the whole extruded in a desired cross section and, if neces: sary, vulcanized or otherwise treated after such extrusion.

When the door is closed the attraction of the permanent magnets 3 upon the magnet attracted material at l2 first begins to exert its force upon the material which first comes within the range of the fields of the magnets, that is the material at the inner sides of the parts at. I2. Then, as the door is closed, and the gasket distorted from the form shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2, the full force of the magnets 3 is asserted upon such material. This will hold the door snugly closed in sealed position.

It will be noted that the magnets 3, in the succession of magnets around the entrance opening 'to therefrigeraton have north and south poles of adjacent magnets presented to each other so that the material at I2, influenced by the magnets, between the-adjacent magnets 3 becomes in ef- 'ect a 4series of successive magnets with poles properly positioned to obtain the greatest eiect of the magneticattraction and thus hold the door closed at a maximum efficiency of the magnets used.

The` doorisopened loypulling on a handle at the outer side of and located adjacent to the Vfree vertical edge Aof the door. The pull first withdraws `the magnet attracted material at l2 from the-magnets at the outer side edges thereof rerquiring ailess vexertion than if the entireV force V-ofattraction between the magnets and the matevertical sides of the door opening. At the upper and lower sides the magnets there mounted are taken care of by successively breaking their forces exerted upon the gasket, so that the door may be more readily and easily opened without the expenditure of undue force.

The structure described is of a simple and practical type. The number of magnets 3 to be used may be restricted to a minimum, The invention is dened in the appended claim and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming Within their scope.

We claim:

In a structure as described, a casing having an entrance opening at its front side said casing having walls surrounding the opening and front faces to said Walls having spaced openings therein, a plate secured at the rear side of said front face at each opening therein, said plate having an opening at its intermediate portion, a magnet located at the inner side of each of the plates having spaced poles extending through the opening in its associated plate and bearing against said associated plate, a member secured to each of said plates spacedY therefrom, between which and each the said plates the magnet is located, and a screw threading through each of said members bearing against its associated magnet to secure it in place.

LLOYD L. ANDERSGN, NATHAN S. WARING. ANTON W. KORB.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTEDYSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,395,293 Peumer Feb. 19, 194.6 2,421,625 Kretschmer June 3, 1947 2,446,336 Mark et al. Aug. 3, 1948 2,471,635 Mark et al May 31, 1949 2,565,891 Sherman Aug. 28, 1951 

